Of all the counties in the world, it seems so strange that Canada is taking the lead on this and in a sensible way - with trials to determine real-world effects and costs - instead of a big social argument about the justice of it. Though to be fair, it states that several other countries are trying pilot projects as well: Finland, Kenya, The Netherlands (and also a small trial in Oakland, CA).

Maybe it just feels weird that anyone is doing anything sensible these days.

In the latest issue of Write, the magazine of the Writers’ Union of Canada, editor Hal Niedzviecki urged the white, middle-class people who make up most of published Canadian literature to “explore the lives of people who aren’t like you.” The piece, titled “Winning the appropriation prize,” was criticized on social media for denying and advocating cultural appropriation, and in relation to its inclusion in an issue focused on the work of Indigenous writers. Niedzviecki then resigned.Once reported on, the incident brought forth what has become a predictable response from white Canadian media. Columns were written and scathing tweets were sent, to the effect that this was an affront to free speech and another sign of “the left” gone too far. And Whyte set out to organize his prize, presumably taking his inspiration from the title of Niedzviecki’s piece. Watching the names—some of the top names at the National Post, Rogers Media, and CBC—pledging their $100 or $500 to his cause, my stomach flipped. It was a reminder, once again, that too many white decision makers in Canadian media don’t seem to listen when people of colour and Indigenous people are talking.

A Twitter timeline is a dangerous thing to scroll through at bedtime. On Thursday night, I watched former Maclean’s and National Post editor Ken Whyte pledge to seed a $1,500 “appropriation prize.” By the time I put down my phone, just three hours later, the pot was up to $3,500. The contributors: a selection of the editors and senior-most staffers and writers at some of the largest media organizations in Canada. They are all white.

I sincerely think there's a legitimate discussion to be had about appropriation and how that can be reconciled with the longstanding validity of writers trying to understand others' perspectives (for a very basic example, women writing male characters or vice versa, though that's obviously more gender than culture), but that guy went about it in the most shitheaded way possible, telling people what they should do and imposing his idea.

The prize and other nonsense which have followed are just fucking pants-on-head stupid.

It's basically non-news for the rest of the world, but the Canadian government has pretty much decided that appeasing Trump isn't worth it and that we're going to just go it alone and wait out his presidency in the meantime. Military spending is going to rise 70% over the next 10 years, we're going to aggressively pursue non-US trade deals, and deal with the Trump fallout come what may.

Given the extent to which Canada's economy and place in the world is interdependent on the US this is pretty much unprecedented. Even when we traded heavily and primarily Britain we still had a close relationship with the US due to simple geography. Like, we're not going to actively cut ties or reduce trade from our side, but if the US does, we're just going to shrug our shoulders and move on and make up for it elsewhere.

I think there will be some hardships resulting from this of course, but I think it'd be cool to genuinely see more European/Asian products and fewer US imports.

I'd say the US's diminishing standing in the world is a pretty big deal, and it's not going to just bounce back once Trump is no longer President. When Obama took office, the international community could kind of shrug and dismiss Bush as a one-off. Now we've made it clear that nah, electing lunatics is just America's thing now.

This is not entirely a bad thing; there are plenty of reasons why the US no longer being the world's only superpower might be a good thing. But there are plenty of bad things that can happen in a power vacuum. As far as stepping in and filling the void, I'm sure hoping for more EU, less China.